Worrying about President Obama's lame duck status following major Democratic Party losses in the midterm election, on Sunday's NBC Nightly News, White House correspondent Kristen Welker proclaimed: "...Republicans prepare to take over both houses of Congress, vowing to undo Mr. Obama's most treasured accomplishment, the Affordable Care Act."
Welker made the declaration during a report on President Obama beginning his trip to Asia, something Welker framed as a chance for him to escape his political woes:
President Obama left the White House overnight, heading to China, nearly 7,000 miles from Washington and last week's election day drubbing. On the agenda here, the economy, trade, and his place in history....As much as he might want this trip to be the foundation for a lasting legacy, the political trouble will still be there when he returns to Washington.
On Monday's Today, Welker described Obama "trying to rehabilitate his diminished status on the world stage after last week's election day defeat by Republicans."
Like Welker, on Friday's Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams lamented uncertainty for ObamaCare:
And right about the time the President was breaking bread he got a piece of bad news. The Supreme Court will take up another challenge to his signature ObamaCare law. At stake, health insurance coverage for 5.5 million low-income Americans who bought through federal exchanges and now stand to lose the subsidies that made coverage affordable for them.
Here is a full transcript of Welker's November 9 report:
6:34 PM ET
LESTER HOLT: The climate of relations with North Korea could be among the topics President Obama discusses as he arrives in China tonight for the start of a three-nation tour aimed at strengthening U.S. ties to the region. NBC's Kristen Welker is traveling with the President and is in Beijing, where it's now Monday morning. Kristen, good evening.
KRISTEN WELKER: Lester, fostering stronger relations with Asia has been a key priority for President Obama. This is his sixth trip to the region. Many here feel as though other crises have taken his attention away from Asia, so there will be a lot of pressure on President Obama to restart his so-called Asia pivot while also navigating the ongoing battles back at home.
President Obama left the White House overnight, heading to China, nearly 7,000 miles from Washington and last week's election day drubbing. On the agenda here, the economy, trade, and his place in history.
PROFESSOR JAMES THURBER [AMERICAN UNIVERSITY]: I think the President believes that a trade deal with help define his legacy.
WELKER: It's a four-stop three-nation tour that will take the President to Beijing, south to Myanmar, with stops in Rangoon and the capital Naypyidaw, and finally, all the way down under to Brisbane, Australia, where he'll deliver the capstone speech of his trip.
BEN RHODES [DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR]: The main goal is to advance U.S. engagement in the Asia-Pacific. A key part of this is going to be economic. Our biggest trade relationships and greatest export growth have come in emerging markets.
WELKER: It's also a trip rife with pitfalls. How will the President address concerns about China's authoritarian treatment of its own citizens?
RHODES: We'll be very direct with China on our concerns about their human rights situation. Just as we're concerned about some of the business practices that we feel deny a level playing field for American businesses.
WELKER: But Mr. Obama's ability to pressure the Chinese is substantially limited by his dependence on them for ongoing efforts to deny Iran a nuclear weapon, navigate the unpredictable behavior of North Korea, and contribute to the fight against the spread of Ebola in West Africa.
All this as Republicans prepare to take over both houses of Congress, vowing to undo Mr. Obama's most treasured accomplishment, the Affordable Care Act.
MIKE ROUNDS [R-SOUTH DAKOTA SENATOR-ELECT]: The Republican majority now has an opportunity to show that we can actually govern, we can put together an agenda, and we can execute on it. That means getting results. It means you go back in and you take apart ObamaCare.
WELKER: As much as he might want this trip to be the foundation for a lasting legacy, the political trouble will still be there when he returns to Washington.
THURBER: Second-term presidents frequently engage on foreign policy and they leave the country. Obama is doing this. Other Presidents have done it. And sometimes it gets them in trouble. Sometimes issues are forced on them.
WELKER: In an interview earlier Sunday, President Obama for the first time accepted responsibility for the Democrats' huge losses in the midterms and he did it by quoting a famous phrase from the nation's 33rd president, Harry Truman.
BARACK OBAMA [ON FACE THE NATION]: The buck stops with me. The buck stops right here, at my desk. And so whenever, as the head of the party, it doesn't do well, I've got to take responsibility for it.
WELKER: A fraught backdrop as President Obama prepares to attend the APEC economic summit here on Monday. Lester.
HOLT: Kristen Welker in Beijing for us, thank you.
